JC commissioners weigh in on property tax increase

Conversations about a potential city property tax increase are highly anticipated as Johnson City commissioners prepare for their first official deliberations on the subject. "We are very sensitive to asking citizens to make an investment in the community and that's why I'm not going to say I've already made up my mind about something," Commissioner Joe Wise said on Monday. "What I'm going to say is, you know, we've got a multi-year effort to kind of advance a strategic plan, and we want to make sure that we're acting on that with citizen input." Ahead of the June 4 city commission meeting, elected leaders weighed in on their fiscal year 2027 budget priorities. Wise, Vice Mayor Jenny Brock and commissioner Whitney Goetz, all said they look forward to discussing in more detail during the budget's first reading and public hearing. The staff-recommended budget going before the commission includes the possibility for an additional $8.8 million in added expenses to the city's proposed $122 million base budget. The additional funds include a $2.8 million debt service to begin a full buildout of a total $37 million aquatics facility. The other $6 million in additions cover expenses for several equipment and personnel increases for public works, parks and recreation and facilities departments. Wise said his biggest budget priorities for these add ons were what he called the "core services" of city government, which includes maintenance and additions to city capital and equipment. "I think a lot of times we lose sight of the fact that core services are the essential bread and butter of city government, and virtually everything on the list, or at least 75% of things on the list relative to the budget that's being published are things across a range of those core services," Wise said. "To me that has always been my first guiding principle — the core service delivery." Brock, like Wise, said investment in the city's baseline services such as garbage collection, water, sewer and public safety are top of mind when considering these additional budget asks. "Making sure we're investing adequately in capital equipment replacement is really, really critical," Brock said. "Johnson City's growing, of course, and we need some additional public work crews, I mean, they're the ones out there every single day taking care of the community," Brock said. "So, there is a part of that, that wasn't in the base budget." Similar to Wise and Brock, Goetz, in an email to the Johnson City Press, would not say whether she would support a property tax increase to cover these costs. "At this early stage of the budget process, I'm continuing to review the information presented by staff and listen to the perspectives shared by our residents before making any decision regarding a proposed property tax increase, something I take seriously," Goetz said in the email. "I appreciate the importance of the discussion and want to be thoughtful as this process moves forward." Mayor Greg Cox and Commissioner Todd Fowler did not respond to the Johnson City Press' request for comment by press time. The Johnson City property tax rate is currently set at $1.3785 per $100 assessed property value. If commissioners approved city staff's FY 27 budget with additional asks as-is, it would require a total 28-cent increase in local tax rates to meet the needed revenue. The commission will hold a public hearing on the FY 27 budget during its June 4 meeting at 6 p.m. in city hall.